8’ Two Paw — A “Little” Project With the Grandkids

[PadrePoint]

I’m happy and satisfied with my current “fleet”: my Core Sound 15 Norma T that I built in 2020 when I retired, the Core Sound 17m3 Avocet that I bought from Richard in 2021, and the 15’ Glen-L ski boat Joe that I finished building in 2022.  I have no reason to build another boat… right???

 

Wrong!!  I found that I kind cornered myself into another build and I think my error to be funny… and, it provides a me unique chance to build a boat with my three grandkids.  Let me explain.
 

My friend, Don, was just getting used to his newly purchased Core Sound 20m3 that he had recently bought from Jay and mentioned that he might sell some of his boatyard inventory.  When I first visited his home I saw his little 8’ nesting dinghy that he named Two Bits.

 

When the two of us sailed for a few days on Michigan’s Grand Traverse Bay in 2022, we towed Two Bits behind Avocet.  I thought it was cute as it merrily bobbed along behind us.  No wave action could unsettle it. 

 

We talked about Two Bits and how it would be a wonderful boat for me to borrow from Don to help my grandkids learn more about sailing. They enjoy being with my wife and me in both of my Core Sounds but a small boat like this might be the perfect way for them to begin sailing without adults on board.  They have become quite independent with their small kayaks that we bought from Sam’s Club a few years ago.  My wife is pictured coaching the kids in 2022 for their first solo kayaking:

 

 

I had given the book Swallows and Amazons to the two girls a couple years ago and it was read out loud as a family. They are now eager to start having their own imaginative kid-adventures in a sailboat.  I planned to use my CS15 to move them into new independence, knowing that it is a little much for them right now, but I just didn’t know how I could transport Don’s boat to Wisconsin and back to his North Carolina home.  Then, I spotted his “ad” in January 2026…

 

In my quick read I saw the phrase “sail rig” and interpreted it to mean the “sailboat setup” (and I didn’t think that he wasn’t asking enough.)  Thinking I could help him out a bit by buying his “rig”, I commented immediately, “Sure, I’ll buy that from you.”  He responded, “Ya realize that’s only the sail, mast, etc. right?”  “Ohhhh…  that makes sense.”  But, I said I’d buy it and I’ll stick to that. 
 

That meant… yup… I now need to build a little boat for the new sail and I thought that the B&B Two Paw dinghy, the same as Don’s, is the way to go.  Actually, I liked that thought of this small project and asked my two sons whether they would participate with their kids in building it (we can avoid exposing them to epoxy and there is plenty else they could do.)  They agreed to participate and I ordered a kit from B&B.  My older son agreed to build the rudder and dagger board, which is something I did NOT want to undertake.  He’ll likely involve his son in those projects of his.  I picked up the kit from the B&B shop on April 13.  

 

I then stopped at Don’s house on the way home to get the “sail rig” (sans boat) and took a closer look at his Two Paw build.  I decided that I would add side flotation tanks to the front half as he did and open the bow tank to be able to toss stuff into it when on the water.  Once into Wisconsin I needed to stop to get my CS 17m3 from winter storage and bring it home with the new kit. It gave the two boats a chance to “become acquainted.”  This is Avocet at a rest stop during its spring migration north for the summer: 

Once home, I put the parts of the kit in a pile on a tarp in my basement shop.  

 

 

Yes, we’ll build the boat in my basement, being inspired by NCIS’ Jethro Gibbs’ basement boat-build (they actually built a Glen-L speedboat during the show… I heard Mark Harmon in an interview explain how Gibbs got that boat out of the basement… “IT’S A TELEVISION STAGE!!  We rolled it out!!”)  We will certainly be able to bring the two 4’ sections up the steps and out the front door once the 8’ hull is cut in two.  The nested boat will fit in my son’s Sienna, my 4’ wide utility trailer, and my other son’s tiny flat trailer.  And, it will store easily someplace nested together and standing upright. 
 

A few weeks ago, the two girls were visiting us.  I brought them downstairs, showed them the plans of the transoms and bulkheads.  They identified from the jumbled pile of parts the correct pieces and placed them together where they needed to be glued.  


I spent a few hours over the weeks rounding the edges that would be exposed, glueing things together, filling the bolt holes with epoxy, cutting strips for the gunwales, sanding things a bit, making most of a building cradle, and getting things ready for a time ALL THREE kids would finally be together at our house, which hasn’t happened since Christmas… they are all here TONIGHT!

I kinda slapped together a cradle on which to build the hull. I removed the 2x2 pieces across the top on which we’ll assemble and wire up the hull in the upside down position. After the flip I’ll remove them and install some supports to stabilize the upright hull.  (Also, I unscrewed the two 2x2 pieces so the kids could “finish building” the cradle before they do the assembly.)

 

We’ll start assembling tomorrow afternoon. The plan:

1) Finish the cradle. 

2) Cut strips on my bandsaw to put between the nesting bulkheads and assemble the two bulkheads into a unit. 
3) Cut some short wires to tie pieces together. 
4) Connect and wire the sides, transoms, and bulkheads (upside down). 
5) shave the center edges of the bottom pieces for better fit and wire the two bottom pieces together. 
6) Unfold the bottom onto the assembly and tie it into place. 
7) Flip the assembly right side up and shore it up on the cradle, checking for straightness. 
8) Temporarily screw in the foredeck frame. 
9) Fit the gunwales using clamps and screws. 
10) Then, my boys and I will epoxy-glue the gunwales into place, letting things cure. 
 

Can we get all this done tomorrow?

 

Something to mention… the three grandkids are given the task of naming the boat and designing what it will look like. So far, each of the three have come up with three vastly different sets of color schemes. I was asked which I wanted.  “Nope, YOU guys need to decide those things.  I offered the idea the the boat does have two sides, two transoms, and the inside. Who knows WHAT this things will look like when this project hits the water. 
 

On Tuesday, my wife and I take off for a four-week vacation to Palm Springs and South Lake Tahoe.  I’ll probably NEED that vacation after tomorrow.  I’ll take up taping the joints after I’m back. 

 

 

 

 

 

[PadrePoint]

DAY 1  — A couple afternoon hours were all that was needed for the basic assembly and an hour after supper to temporarily fit the gunwales.  So, we almost completed everything I had hoped for today (except for mixing up epoxy for gluing the gunwales… since there will be a couple people sleeping in the basement bedrooms.)  We’ll glue them tomorrow morning before everyone leaves.  Besides, the three strips that are clamped and screwed onto each side have an overnight to relax into the multi-curving hull. 
 

We started with the empty floor in my shop, a bit unusual. 

I thought three adults could each take a kid to do three tasks needed prior to assembling. But the kids decided they ALL wanted to participate in each task… so that is our approach.  My son led them through the process of “pre-assembly task” one, using the band saw to rip pieces of hard cardboard to be spacers between the nesting bulkheads; then we screwed the two bulkheads together with the spacers.  The spacers can be easily removed when sawing the boat in half.  Task two was finishing the cradle by putting two horizontal pieces across the top for the assembling. (I didn’t think to take a photo of them using the band saw and drill/driver for the screws.)  Task three was sanding and rounding the upper edges of the bottom plywood along the keel joint for a better fit.  I showed the kids how to use my battery sander but it kicked up sawdust that blew into their eyes… oops.  They preferred hand sanding the two 8’ long edges, and they became industrious. 

Now it was time to start assembling. I bought 20 gauge wire, a bit thin but easy for the kids to use and I thought it would be strong enough to stitch the boat together.  I showed them how to cut the wire to around 8” and bend it into “narrow horse shoe” shape. 

 

Once we built up some wire ties we began the most fun part of the build, stitching together the sides, bulkheads, transoms and bottom. 

 

More wires are needed. 

 

Next step was stitching together the keel joint of the bottom pieces… then unfolding it onto the hull skeleton. 

 

Unlike my 72 year old 6’5” body, the kids are just the right size to crawl underneath the hull and poke the ends of the wire to the other side for someone to twist together. (I DID get my body on the floor and onto my side to snap a couple photos of the busy kids.)

 

 

We tightened the ties and made sure everything seemed to fit well. 

I had to take a photo of my old fence pliers that I used to build chain link and other fencing during my college summers back in ‘72-‘75.  The pliers had all kinds of uses and could be made to do most anything, it seemed. No pliers I’ve seen had provide as much versatility: grab, throw with line attached, squeeze, cut, hammer, wrench, dig, hack, chip, and play mumblypeg.  One could even easily stick them into chain link to make a handy step that one could use to climb up or over the fence.  It was like an extension of my hand. 

 

Time now to do the flip and admire this new little boat.  It seems a LOT deeper than I anticipated. 

 

 

 

So, that’s roughly how the aft flotation tanks will be. 

 

After having a beer with my boys, the kids offered a concert they’d been preparing… complete with a program and tickets.  We’ve provided the girls piano lessons and the boy karate classes (he played various percussion instruments from our basement.)

 

 

 

Then, after a couple hours of wild cousin playtime outside, we had a hotdog/Polish sausage supper, after which my boys and I altered the cradle for the upright position and temporarily installed the gunwales. We’ll glue them in in the morning. 

 

My son brought up his canoe-building clamps to add to the ones I had on hand.  He reminded me that I bought his some years ago.
 

I like the look of this little boat. I think we can have some fun with it.  After tomorrow I won’t be home for four weeks when I’ll pick up the project again.  I heard that the kids might agree on a color scheme, patterning it after the blue/yellow/white of Avocet and possibly naming it EMO, the first letters of each of the three grandkids’ names.  We might have a plan. 
 

FOOTNOTE: My boys’ families wanted to leave in the next morning. Rather than doing the epoxy/glue work first thing in the day, I decided to leave the gunwales clamped into position for the four week trip that begins tomorrow.  A benefit of this lazy plan is that the gunwale strips will likely retain a lot the current shape and will be that much easier to glue them into place when I return. 

[Don Silsbe]

What a great project!  Y’all are going to love that little boat.

[Andy B]

Ted, this warms my heart so much!  I love it!

 

Also, I'm half-finished with my masthead float.  My daughter saw the fish shape, and I showed her your floats with the fishy paint design.  Guess what she wants now!!!!

[PadrePoint]

8 hours ago, Andy B said:

Guess what she wants now!!!!

HA!! I used a small piece of plywood I had from a previous build and substituted it for the more aerodynamically shaped fin which came with the kit. It took a while after painting the floats to figure out how to make the faces and “gills”… trial and error with paper cutting. 
 

BTW, fiberglassing the float was interesting, putting 2D material over a 3D shape.  I found that wet glass cloth is surprisingly flexible to shape toward the 3D thing. Though I glassed it, likely painting it with epoxy and paint would have sufficed. 

[Andy B]

The fiberglass went on much easier than I thought.  For anyone making it, my suggestion is to be aggressive with cutting darts in the cloth, both in the number of darts and how high up you cut them (into the area where you are wetting the fiberglass).  It made it much easier.

I just did the thick coat of epoxy last night and I don't like how it turned out.  I think I had the epoxy too thick (Alan's video says make it like honey; maybe we have different honey jars!).  It will be okay, I just have some more sanding to do.  At worst it is just cosmetic on something that is usually seen from 20 feet away.